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 | "[H]omosexuals have privately served well in the past and are continuing to serve well today." General Colin Powell, at a Senate hearing in 1993. |
| "Sexual orientation is considered a personal and private matter, and homosexual orientation is not a bar to continued service unless manifested by homosexual conduct." Department of Defense Directive 1332.14 (1994) |
| "The conservative movement, to which I subscribe, has as one of its basic tenets the belief that government should stay out of people's private lives. Government governs best when it governs least - and stays out of the impossible task of legislating morality. But legislating someone's version of morality is exactly what we do by perpetuating discrimination against gays [in the military]." Barry M Goldwater, former senator, AZ 7 |
Overview:
The U.S. Armed Forces have, to their credit, often led the rest of the country in the field of human rights. They eliminated the racial bar against African-Americans at a time when many organizations in the rest of the country heavily discriminated against blacks. They accept women as equals to men in all but certain hazardous classifications at a time when women are heavily discriminated against -- particularly within some religious institutions, but also in commerce, education and industry. However, the Armed Forces are dragging their heels over the matter of sexual orientation. At a time when the vast majority of American adults favor an end to discrimination for gays and lesbians, the Armed Forces do not allow a sexually active, openly gay, service member to remain in the services.
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Policies in other countries:
In the past, gays and lesbians were not permitted in any of the armed forces in the West. Most countries have abandoned their anti-gay policies in recent years, as mental health professionals discovered that a homosexual orientation is normal, natural, fixed, and unchosen. Among the countries of the Western industrialized world, Austria, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Israel, Japan, The Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, and the UK allow gays and lesbians to serve freely. 6 The last hold-outs within NATO were/are:
| Great Britain: The Amsterdam Treaty grants the EU "the power to take appropriate action to combat discrimination. The possible grounds of intervention are discrimination based on sex, race or ethnic origin, religion, belief, disability, age or sexual orientation." 1 This treaty applies to the UK, which is a member state of the EU. Great Britain was found guilty by the European Court of Human Rights on 1999-SEP-27 for violating the human rights of four military personnel. They had been dismissed because of their sexual orientation. The ruling said, in part: "Those negative attitudes could not, of themselves, justify the interferences in question any more than similar negative attitudes towards those of a different race, origin or colour." The UK now permits gays and lesbians to serve freely. 2 |
| Turkey: This country continues to bar homosexuals from their Armed Forces. However, Turkey is attempting to join the European Union (EU). When they do join, they will be required to change their policies in a number of areas, including the elimination of the death penalty and the acceptance of persons of all sexual orientations in the army. |
| USA: President Clinton announced a "Don't ask, don't tell" policy in 1993-JUL. He promised that the policy would establish "a decent regard for the legitimate privacy and associational rights of all service members." 3 " 'Don't Tell,' while prohibiting public statements of sexual orientation to the military, allows for "personal and private" communications between gay service members and their families, friends and others. It protects service members' freedom of association with friends and extracurricular organizations. The policy further allows for disclosure of sexual orientation by gay service members to defense attorneys, chaplains, security clearance personnel and, in limited circumstances, doctors who are treating patients for HIV." 4 However, they are effectively cut off from counseling and other mental health services because physicians, psychologists and others are not required to keep confidential any conversations during therapy. Some therapists and doctors routinely report any gays or lesbians that they find to their commanding officers for investigation. Many gays and lesbians who are the victims of harassment or assault often dare not report the incidents out of fear of being ejected from the military. This frequently makes them sitting ducks for homophobes who enjoy engaging in gay bashing. |
Hate crimes law:
Pfc. Barry Winchell at Ft. Campbell, KY was murdered on 1999-JUL-5 because of his sexual orientation. Three months later, President Clinton issued an executive order which amended the Manual for Courts-Martial. It had been on his desk for over a year before it was signed. The order provides for an increase in sentencing for military personnel found guilty of committing hate crimes, based on race, gender, sexual orientation and disability. A bill is before Congress that would extend existing hate crime legislation to include sexual orientation. It appears to be currently stalled. It is worth noting that the hate crime executive order and hate crime law will protect persons of all sexual orientations, including heterosexuals and bisexuals -- not simply gays and lesbians.
SLDN 1999 Report on harassment:
The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN) issued a report on 2000-MAR-9 titled "Conduct Unbecoming: Sixth annual report on "Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass." 1 The SLDN is the main legal support group defending gays and lesbians in the military. They are widely known throughout the armed forces as a safe, confidential, underground network. The SLDN report cited:
| 968 incidences of harassment of gays and lesbians in the armed forces that individual servicemen and women had reported to them during 1999. |
| The 1999 events ranged in severity from taunts and physical assaults to the murder of Pfc. Barry Winchell at Ft. Campbell, KY. |
| This represents a 142% increase over 1998 and about a 500% increase over 1997. It is not known whether these data are related to an actual increase in harrassment or whether the increase can be attributed to the SLDN having a higher profile. |
| Incidents remained fairly constant during 1999, with a slight increase noted after the murder. |
| They reported that: "Witch hunts, physical abuse by investigators, and criminal prosecutions of lesbian, gay and bisexual service members have all subsided." |
| Discharges for homosexuality dropped 10 percent from 1998, after several years of steady increases. |
| There were 1,034 discharges in 1999 related to homosexuality -- a 73 percent increase from before "Don't Ask, Don't Tell, Don't Pursue" policy was announced by President Clinton. |
| Discharges are on the rise for women. Although only 14% of the armed force personnel are women, lesbians accounted for 31% of the sexual orientation based discharges in 1999 -- the highest percentage in at least two decades. |
| The Air Force continues to lead all services in gay discharges. |
| The SLDN rated the Army's training course against homophobia as the most effective in the forces. 2 |
On the day that the SLDN report was released, the Pentagon announced that it was considering changing a policy that would allow gay service members to be granted confidentiality when they discuss matters with a doctor, psychologist, or other health professional. Without confidentiality during therapy, gays and lesbians are largely cut off from counseling within the armed forces. Yet, of all groups within the military, homosexuals may well be the one most in need of a safety valve. The current policy is ambiguous: health care workers are neither required to remain silent about a client's sexual orientation, nor are they required to report gays and lesbians. Michelle Benecke, Executive Director of SLDN responded: "That's excellent! That is really big news. That is the first time they have ever given a centimeter on that...it's a very serious issue to our clients...Medical- and mental-health people provide a real relief valve for service members in trouble. There are people who've been driven to suicide because there is no safe place for them to go with this secret."
Pressure to abandon the "don't ask, don't tell" policy:
| Representative. Marty Meehan (D-MA) introduced a House bill: the Military Readiness Enhancement Act. It would lift the military's ban on homosexuals. Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL), a member of the Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations said: "We've tried the policy. I don't think it works. And we've spent a lot of money enforcing it. People who've signed up to serve our country, we should be thanking them." Four Republican representatives — including conservatives Wayne Gilchrest of Maryland have joined with 81 Democrats as co-sponsors. Gilchrest used to be in favor of the ban, but changed his mind because of respect for gay Marines with whom he served in Vietnam. Another influence is his brother, who is gay. He feels that the mood in Congress is shifting. He said: "When this issue comes up, members who believe that gays shouldn't be in the military are now more hesitant to voice their opinion. Many of us who feel the other way have come out of the closet, so to speak. A year ago, I would have been uncomfortable expressing my feelings." 9,10 |
| The Servicemembers Legal Defense Network issued a new report on 2005-JUN-13 noting that many highly trained military specialists — including combat engineers and linguists — are being discharged involuntarily because of their sexual orientation. Meanwhile, the Pentagon "is facing extreme challenges in recruiting and retaining troops." Their report states that: "The military discharged 653 men and women in 2004 under the gay ban, the second lowest total since “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was implemented. The Pentagon discharges include at least 41 healthcare professionals, 30 sonar and radar specialists, 20 combat engineers, 17 law enforcement agents, 12 security guards and 7 biological and chemical warfare specialists who were fired because of sexual orientation. At least 9 language specialists were also discharged. The SLDN analysis also reveals that, based on other data obtained from different sources, less than one-quarter of all 2004 discharges under 'Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell' were from units deployed in support of war operations, suggesting the services are far less likely to discharge gays and lesbians serving on the frontlines. Gay discharges have declined by 47% since September 11, 2001." SLDN Executive Director, C. Dixon Osburn, said: "The military continues to sacrifice national security and military readiness in favor of simple prejudice. Americans do not care if the helicopter pilot rescuing a wounded soldier or the medic treating that soldier is gay." 8,10 |
| Twelve former service members have launched a lawsuit against the policy. It cites the U.S. Supreme Court's 2003 ruling in Lawrence v. Texas, which declared all state anti-sodomy laws to be unconstitutional across the U.S. The Bush administration is expected to ask that the lawsuit be dismissed. They take the position that the Court's ruling has no bearing over this matter because it does not impact on the military. The case will be heard in a Boston, MA federal court during 2005-JUL. 10 |
| Lt. Col. Allen Bishop, a U.S. Military Academy professor of philosophy at West Point, had been troubled for years about the ban. In the spring of 2005, he wrote an article against the ban in the Army Times. On JUN-14, he said: "I thought I'd get lots of hate mail, and my colleagues would walk on the other side of the hall — but there's been none of that.....They can be gay, but they can't practice being gay. They can be here, but they can't tell you who they are — it seemed pretty confusing to me." His article said in part: "Despite our government's claim of liberty for all, we leave homosexuals out. If the American military sees and is allowed to see itself as the protector of some but not all Americans, democracy fails." 10 |
Opinion poll:
The Boston Globe sponsored a national poll conducted by the New Hampshire Survey Center. They polled 760 American adults; the margin of error is ±3.6 percentage points.
Most of the questions were related to same-sex marriage. However, they also asked about the military's exclusion of openly homosexual personnel. 79% of the subjects felt that gays and lesbians should be able to serve in the military. This is drastic change since the year 2000 when an Opinion Dynamics Poll found that only 57% were in favor of ending the ban. The Globe reported that: "Large majorities of Republicans, regular churchgoers, and people with negative attitudes toward gays think gays and lesbians should be allowed to serve openly in the military." 11
References:
The following information sources were used to prepare and update the above essay. The hyperlinks are not necessarily still active today.
- "The ABC of the European Union - citizenship: Fundamental rights," at: http://europa.eu.int/abc/cit1_en.htm
- "Judgements in the Cases of Lustig-Prean and Beckett v. The United Kingdom and Smith and Grady v. The United Kingdom, European Court of Human Rights," (1999) See: http://www.echr.coe.int/eng/Judgments.htm
- President W.J. Clinton, "Text of Remarks Announcing the New Policy," Washington Post, 1993-JUL-20, Page A12.
- "Conduct Unbecoming: Sixth annual report on Don't ask, don't tell, don't pursue, don't harass.", Servicemembers Legal Defense Network (SLDN), 2000-MAR-9 at: http://www.sldn.org/reports/sixth.htm SLDN's home page is at: http://www.sldn.org/
- David Cullen, "Conduct unbecoming: A new report details the sharp increase of gays in the military," Salon.com, 2000-MAR-10, at: http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2000/03/10/gays/index.html
- Homo Base, in operation since 1995, bills itself as the first Internet web site for gay service members. Their home page is at: http://homobase.com/ A valuable research page with many links to other support web sites is at: http://homobase.com/research.htm
- Barry M. Goldwater, "Ban on gays is senseless attempt to stall the inevitable." at: http://homobase.com/
- "New Data Reveals Military Losing Mission Critical Specialists Under 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell'," Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, 2005-JUN-13, at: http://www.sldn.org/
- "New Poll Shows Overwhelming Support for Allowing Gays to Serve," Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, 2005-MAY-16, at: http://www.sldn.org/
- "Efforts Intensify to End Gay Soldier-Ban," Associated Press, 2005-JUN-14, at: http://www.sfgate.com/
- Scott S. Greenberger, "One year later, nation divided on gay marriage. Split seen by region, age, Globe poll finds," Boston Globe, 2005-MAY-15, at: http://www.boston.com/
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Copyright © 2000 to 2005 by Ontario Consultants on Religious
Tolerance
Originally written: 2000-MAR-16
Latest update: 2005-JUN-15
Author: B.A. Robinson
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